SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Despite allowing the match's first goal in the 68th minute, the Golden Eagles netted three consecutive tallies late in the second half to best former rival Rogers State (Okla.) today at Alumni Field.
John Brown out-shot the visiting Hillcats (0-4-0) 10-2 in the second half, landing goals from sophomore Nicole Kosin, junior Casey O'Brien and junior Laura Garcia over a nine-minute span to earn its first come-from-behind victory in 2013.
"I loved that the girls fought back after being down a goal today," head coach Kathleen Paulsen noted after the win. "It gives us confidence that we can always come back, no matter what the situation. We will work on making sure we capitalize on opportunities earlier in the match so we aren't in that position, but I think that we responded appropriately once we went down a goal."
The Golden Eagles dominated play throughout the afternoon, earning an 8-3 advantage in shots in the first half, forcing RSU netminder Jordan Harris to make three saves over the first 45 minutes. Despite controlling play, John Brown struggled again with finishing plays after earning dominant portions of possession.
The visitors jumped into a surprising early lead, its first of the season, when a Hillcat forward finished a corner kick in the box in the 68th minute, stunning the Golden Eagles after its overwhelming time of possession and the disparity in shots.
In the final 10 minutes of the match, the JBU offense came to life. In the 80th minute, freshman midfielder fed a through ball to Kosin who, after shielding the ball from a defender, turned around and fired a low, hard shot to the far post, handing John Brown the equalizer.
The Golden Eagles weren't done, however, as sophomore Julie Whitlow's direct kick about 40 yards out landed in a prime position in the Hillcat box, finding the foot of O'Brien, who made no mistake, firing it into the right side of the goal from only a couple yards away for the game-winning tally in the 86th minute. For good measure, perhaps also to make amends for prior missed opportunities, Garcia received the ball at the top of the box on the right side in the 89th minute and cut past a defender into the middle, releasing a hard shot to the low near corner, padding JBU's lead to 3-1.
Sophomore keeper Kristen Morency (4-2-0) only had one opportunity for a save on the afternoon. The shot unfortunately snuck by her, but the John Brown offense delivered Morency her fourth win of the season. RSU's Jordan Harris (0-3-0) took the loss, despite knocking aside five Golden Eagle attempts on goal.
Garcia paced the Blue and Gold offense with seven shots as O'Brien tallied six in the winning effort as the duo combined for six of JBU's eight shots on goal. Freshman attacker Braydi Frederick landed a pair of shots while Kosin, junior Adrienne Kennedy and freshman Hannah Poor notched the other shots.
With the victory, the Golden Eagles move to 4-2-0 on the season and will have its hands full come Saturday (Sept. 21) night when the squad travels to Atchison, Kan., to face No. 22 Benedictine in a 5:00 p.m. bout.
